Heart and Soul
by Angie J Trifid
Summary: Named after the Nebula :P. Team Lightyear find a girl amongst the wreckage of her ship, but the crash was no accident. She joins Star Command in the hopes of finding the other passengers, and falls in love with Buzz along the way. BLoSC universe. BxJ WxBo
1. Distress Call

**A/N: Howdy! I don't own **_**Toy Story**_** *sniff*.**

**Or **_**Buzz Lightyear of Star Command**_**, for that matter.**

* * *

**Chapter One: Distress Call**

Another mission over; another load of paperwork to fill out. Mira groaned inwardly. Paperwork was the bane of her existence – of everybody's, really. Well – everybody but Buzz. Buzz loved doing paperwork. In fact, being a Captain at Star Command was probably his one joy in life. Mira doubted he cared about anything more.

"Mira! Hurry up!" Buzz sounded annoyed.

The one thing worse than paperwork – yes, _worse_ than _paperwork_ – was Buzz in a bad mood. _And somehow, it's always my fault,_ Mira thought with heavy sarcasm.

"Mira!"

Mira ran to catch up to the others, grumpily slowing to a halt when she caught them up and wishing she had pockets to stuff her hands into. Ignoring Buzz as much as possible, she slumped into her seat on the ship as the guys prepared to go back to Star Command. It was a habit they – she and Buzz, anyway – had that if one was in a bad mood, the other automatically became a grouch, too.

Bored, a little while later, Mira started flicking a few controls, changing the radio frequency, until she found something. It was an emergency signal, but she couldn't quite pinpoint it, or tell who it was from.

Her interest piqued, Mira messed with a few more controls, trying to zero in on the signal.

"Mira, stop doing that!" Buzz snapped.

Ignoring him – this time not because he was in a mood – Mira tried to get a stronger signal.

"Mira, what are you –" Booster's voice was cut off when Mira turned the sound up on the radio.

"_Help!"_ a girl's voice crackled on the radio. _"I've been attacked! Help!"_

Mira hit a yellow button and spoke back to the voice, taking charge as Buzz stared, dumbfounded. "This is Team Lightyear responding. Over."

"_We were hit!"_ the voice crackled scratchily. _"I dunno where the others are – I think he got 'em – I been injured… I don' think I can stay conscious fer longer… help…"_

"Can you give us your location?" Buzz asked, stepping in.

The voice reeled off a general area on a nearby planet quickly, and then there was no more response to anything.

"A rescue mission…" Buzz grumbled under his breath. "Come on! Set a course for those co-ordinates!"

Mira turned back to the radio controls, trying to figure out as precisely as possible where the signal had come from. The ship turned towards the planet, but all Mira could get was annoying static radio noise.

The ship slowed as they reached the rough co-ordinates they'd been given.

The place was a crater.

Literally. There was a huge crater, with the smouldering remains of a space ship at the centre. It didn't look like anyone could survive.

"Well, I don't think there's any need for a closer look."

Mira and Buzz rolled their eyes. It was typical of X-R to say something like that. His life basically revolved around self-preservation.

"No…" Mira muttered, looking closer. "I think we should check anyway."

There was a hand-made flag sticking up from the wreckage; it looked like it had been made in a hurry.

"I think I'll guard the ship…" X-R muttered. "You know, in case whatever it was comes back…"

"Fine," Buzz said. "Booster? Are you coming?"

Booster agreed straight away. He'd always wanted to be a hero, so it made sense. The three of them left the ship and flew over the wreckage, to the "flag", but no-one was there.

"Split up!" Buzz commanded.

Mira searched the rubble for another signal that could lead them in the right direction. In the end, she searched near the flag. Buzz was flying around the perimeter, probably trying to find out what had happened. Booster was moving everything, searching frantically.

* * *

After searching a while, Mira noticed Booster suddenly zoom back up to the ship and followed.

"Did you find whoever sent the signal?" Buzz asked.

"Yeah," Booster replied sadly. "But she's hurt real bad."

He set whoever he was carrying down on a bench and the others took a closer look.

She was probably about twenty-four. Her hair was long and her face could have been pretty, but at that point she was covered in so much ash, soot and whatever else that her hair colour couldn't be distinguished. Her nose looked broken and she was bleeding.

Buzz reached out to put a hand on the girl's shoulder, but Mira pulled him back.

"Leave her," Mira advised. "We'll take her to medical bay and see what they can do to help her."


	2. Dream

**A/N: Howdy! I don't own **_**Toy Story**_**, or **_**Buzz Lightyear of Star Command**_** *sniff*.**

**Wow, long wait was long. Sorry guys. I magically came up with something for the story… tell ya when I get there.**

**Reeves3: Thanks! So do I!**

**Lilo: Thank you very much! It surprised me that all the BLoSC-Universe stories starred Jessie as already with Buzz, or as the villain.**

**Diana: Thank you!**

**Fanficaddict02: Thanks!**

**Addicted2SONIC4evr: Aww, thank you, that's really sweet! :3**

**Da P: Yup LOL, thankies ^^**

**The139Blossom: Thankies!**

* * *

**Chapter Two: Dream**

The medical bay could help – of course they could. The medics there knew what they were doing.

The girl was cleaned up, before anything else, and turned out to be pretty badly burned and cut. One doctor said she was lucky to be alive. Her long hair turned out to be a bright, fiery red, and her skin was pale. The doctors said the girl needed rest.

But in the meantime: paperwork.

Everybody hoped the girl would wake up, but Mira was probably the only one who was hoping to put off the office-work part of the mission at that point. There really wasn't any point. Nobody read it, anyway. But the only time Buzz had thrown the paperwork out was that – that time with the plants. And _that_ was only because it all sounded terrible, no matter how he worded it. Oh well. Maybe they should start screwing up on purpose, Mira figured, and they wouldn't have to do paperwork ever again.

But that was wishful thinking. Booster would never do anything wrong on purpose, and X-R was too self-obsessed to care. He never did any paperwork, anyway, so it wouldn't make a difference to him.

* * *

Buzz always liked to see a mission through to the end. It had been almost three months now, but there was still no news from the medical bay. It was getting on Buzz's nerves; he was feeling on edge. Eventually he took his team down to the medical bay to check up on the girl they had brought in.

But when they arrived, the girl was nowhere in sight. Medics said she had woken up a few hours, and that had left about three or four weeks after being brought in. They had identified her as a Miss Jessica Pride, twenty-four-and-a-half. Parts of her memory had been missing, but they had decided she had enough memory to get along on her own. Nobody could figure out where she came from, so they had sent her off to Earth and found her an apartment.

Buzz was fuming. He went to the Commander and complained loudly that as his team had brought her in and therefore should have been told as soon as she had awoken. The Commander, however, said that it was none of their concern anymore.

"Get your civvies ready," Buzz announced to his team. "We're going to Earth."

It was not usual for Buzz to give up so easily, but he always said "civvies" to mean "civilian clothing", making it sound like a holiday. And nobody was going to question it. No-one even asked Buzz if the holiday was regulation – they just packed and left.

* * *

Buzz set the ship to auto-pilot and the others went to sleep. Buzz, however, found a file inside his suitcase and examined it again. He had been able to find information on the girl, including a photograph taken from her driver's license. It was a couple of years old, but she had clearly not changed much. She had a broad smile, the tip of her nose was upturned and her long, red hair was tied back in a plait. Buzz also couldn't stop noticing that she had large eyes which were a lovely shade of green.

He had found out the town Miss Pride lived in, but he still did not know whether she had found work or where she lived. But he intended to.

* * *

"_I can't wait to get back home," the brown-haired man said, leaning back in his chair. Jessie laughed._

"_You just wanna see Bo again." The man didn't deny it, so Jessie continued to speak. "I do too. She'd a real nice gal. I miss her."_

"_We'll be home soon, Jess," the man told her. Then something out the window caught his eye. "What the…"_

_And in a flash, everything was gone. Jessie was in agony, bleeding and burnt. Her hands fumbled through the wreckage until she found the radio. "Help!" she yelled into it, tears running down her cheeks. "I've been attacked! Help!"_

_A female voice replied. "_This is Team Lightyear responding. Over._"_

_Star Command. They could help. Get her out alive. Then she could help the others… where were they? Jessie called out to the man and the other but there was no response. She turned back to the radio._

"_We were hit!" she told the person on the other end of the radio. "I dunno where the others are – I think he got 'em – I been injured…"_

_Keeping a knee against the transmitter button for the radio, she ripped some material off her jeans and tied it to a metal pole, making a flag, and carried on talking. Her movements were growing slow and clumsy. "I don't think I can stay conscious fer longer… help…"_

_This time, a man's voice came over the radio. "_Can you give us your location?_"_

_Jessie wasn't sure where exactly she was, but she knew what planet she was on. She reeled off the co-ordinates with her last ounce of strength. Then everything went dark._

Jessie awoke with a start. She was shaking and there was a layer of cold sweat covering her face.

Why did she keep having that dream? Who was the brown-haired man? He looked familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

The alarm went off. Jessie yawned, stretched, shut it off and got ready for work.

* * *

**A/N: Ugh, incredibly short chappie, AND I didn't get to the part I came up with. Oh well, I'll probably make the whole story up of short chappies for a while. See ya next time!**


	3. Diner

**A/N: Howdy! I don't own **_**Toy Story**_**, or **_**Buzz Lightyear of Star Command**_** *sniff*.**

**Geez, what's with me and giving all these chapters names that start with D? Anyways…**

**I'm really enjoying writing this. I just love sci-fi, don't you?**

**FanFicAddict02: Thankies! LOL I probably made it a bit obvious, didn't I? Ah well, this is **_**Buzz Lightyear of Star Command**_**… it's always Zurg (which really gets on my nerves). Or Gravitina…**

**Cowgirl: Thanks so much! Glad to know you're enjoying it**

**Purpledragon6: Thankies! Heh, I was too, but I finally got back 'round to writing it again**

**Linklover77: Aww thankies! Well fantabulous seems like a pretty good work to me ^^**

* * *

**Chapter Three: Diner**

Team Lightyear landed in America, in a busy, bustling city called Andytown. In the nineteenth century it had been an Old West town. The original town itself had been turned into a Western-style holiday resort on the edge of town, where people could see the way life once was, and live that way for anything up to two weeks – and a fee, of course. However, the team were not looking to spend a week living like it used to be.

To protect their identities and keep them safe, all four team members wore disguises. Buzz had dressed in sneakers, jeans, a dark top, a mud-brown trench coat, dark sunglasses and a black fedora hat, pulled down over his face.

Mira had chosen a gothic style, to make her look like a rebellious teenager. She had painted her fingernails black and found a pair of dark trousers with a rip at the knee and matching platform heeled boots, a white tank top under a black t-shirt with rips across it, and black fishnet gloves without fingers, which reached all the way up her arms. She had also managed to get hold of a long black wig and multicoloured hair extensions, and covered her fave with makeup, which Buzz hadn't been too pleased about. Mira had also found a choker with a dark amethyst set into it, and several false piercings.

Booster and X-R had gone for a similar outfit to Buzz.

* * *

They checked into a hotel in downtown and Buzz showed Miss Pride's picture to the man at the desk, asking if he'd seen her.

The man looked confused for a moment, then smiled. "Yeah, I seen her," he said. "Jessie. That real pretty gal what started workin' at the Diner last week. She works there every day. Most guys go there just to see her."

Buzz couldn't believe his luck. This was too easy. "Where's the Diner?"

"Why should I tell you?" the man asked. Buzz could tell the man wanted to be bribed, but refused to play the game. This was important, dammit! Buzz reached across the desk with one hand and grabbed the front of the guy's shirt. Buzz pulled the guy towards him so they were nose-to-nose.

"Where's the Diner?" he repeated darkly.

The frightened man gave him an address not far and then said quickly, "But they're closed today. They'll be open again tomorrow!"

Buzz let the man go and threw a five dollar bill in his direction, then went to his room. It was essentially a battered couch, a broken television and a bathroom. Buzz made a mental note to check out tomorrow. He sat down on the couch and pulled the file out of his suitcase again. He grabbed a small notebook and a ballpoint pen and began making notes.

One thing Buzz found interesting was the damage report on the vehicle Pride had been travelling in. It had been hit with a high-energy electron lazer. The high electrical charge had torn the ship apart. As far as anybody else knew, there were no other ships in the area. All this made Buzz think it wasn't an accident.

Buzz found another photograph of the girl. She looked about twenty-two in this one. She and man about three years older were smiling and waving at the camera. Again, the girl's long red hair was tied back in a plait, and this time she wore a wide-brimmed red Stetson hat. She and the man – who Buzz figured must be her brother, because they looked alike – each had an arm on the other's shoulder, and were both grinning broadly. The girl's green eyes were sparkling happily and it made Buzz smile. Who would want to hurt such a lovely young lady?

"She's pretty," a voice commented from behind. Buzz started; whipped around.

"Mira!" she laughed. "How'd you get in here? I locked the door!"

Mira had changed out of her disguise and removed her makeup now. She joined Buzz on the couch. "I Ghosted in. I can go through stuff, remember? Anyways…" Mira looked at the file. "I'm guessing we're not just here for a vacation."

Buzz ignored her. "I'm hungry and it's getting late. Put your disguise back on and get the others and we'll all get a pizza or something."

* * *

Buzz led them the route past the diner where Jessica Pride worked – which was simply, and conveniently, called _Diner_ – on purpose, to be sure of where it was. It looked just like every other place around: cheap and rubbish, with booths in the window. They found a pizza joint and sat in the back. The pizza was terrible and tasted like cardboard, but at least it was food.

At one point Buzz stood up and wondered around the place asking questions, so while he was out of earshot, Mira leaned over to Booster and X-R and whispered, "Hey guys, we're not just here on vacation you know."

"Don't tell me Zurg's here," X-R whimpered.

"No," said Mira. "I'm actually pretty sure we're here about a girl."

"Buzz has a girlfriend?" Booster asked.

"I never knew he had it in him," said X-R. "I should ask him for tips. Who is it?"

"See for yourself," Mira teased. She Ghosted the file about the Pride girl out of Buzz's bag – although she had no idea why he'd taken it with him – and showed it to the others.

"Isn't that the girl we rescued?" Booster asked.

"She's his girlfriend?" commented X-R, who gave a low whistle, taking a look at the pictures. Mira shot him a death-glare and he hurried to correct himself. "I mean, no wonder he was mad that we weren't told she was out."

Booster began to point out that this probably wasn't the case, but Buzz was coming back over to the table. Mira quickly Ghosted the file back into his bag.

"Let's get back to the hotel and turn in," Buzz said. "We're checking out tomorrow and what were you doing in my bag?"

"Buzz, you sly dog," said X-R.

Buzz looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

"He thinks you're dating the girl we saved," Booster explained.

Buzz turned red and became very flustered. "But tha-that's preposterous! I – I am entirely devoted to – to my work!"

"Don't we know it," said Mira, in a dull, bored tone of voice.

"So, if you're not interested…" X-R began slyly.

The rest of the team glared at X-R. Sure he was a flirt, but did he really have to be so damn obvious about it? Geez.

* * *

**A/N: Ugh, more short chapters. Oh well. See ya next time!**


	4. Photo

**A/N: Howdy! I don't own **_**Toy Story**_**, or **_**Buzz Lightyear of Star Command**_** *sniff*.**

**Here's hoping I can keep up with not giving all the chappies names that start with D ^^**

**FanFicAddict02: Aww thankies! LOL well it'd be pretty harsh to disintegrate him, wouldn't it? And LOL yeah, I'd love to have something like what Mira wears**

**Purpledragon6: Thankies ^^**

**Emo luver 0102: Thanks so much ^^**

**Cowgirl: LOL I've had some pretty bad food before, luckily I've never had cardboard-pizza though**

**Keep-me-posted: LOL, you're lucky. I haven't seen the movie or the show in ages, so I'm working from memory**

* * *

**Chapter Four: Photo**

Back in the hotel room, and after a good deal of pressure from the rest of his team, Buzz finally caved.

"Yes," he admitted. "We're here because of Jessica Pride."

Mira smirked in triumph. "I knew it."

"What're you laughing about?" Buzz demanded.

"You like her."

Buzz became flustered and promptly ordered them out of his room.

* * *

Jessie had been having the worst day. Her alarm clock had broken and gone off two hours early, and she hadn't been able to get back to sleep. Then she'd discovered there was no hot water, and had to take a freezing shower. After that, she'd found out that her rent had gone up – and, even with two jobs, she wasn't going to make enough money to keep living in her current apartment – so she'd probably end up living in some tiny, crowded, rundown place which smelled awful and had writing and graffiti all over the walls. Then she'd been held up by a weird-looking guy, and had missed her bus, and now she was pretty sure he had followed her to work.

So of course, she wasn't having any of it when three shady-looking guys and a gothic-looking girl asked what time she got off work.

"Listen buddy," she snapped, "I ain't interested, alright? Ya wouldn't believe how many guys've asked me the same thing, and I turn 'em all down. Know why? Cuz I'm here tah work, not meet people, see?"

The guys had fallen silent after that. Jessie could tell one of them was staring at her, but she ignored him.

When quitting time rolled around, Jessie breathed a sigh of relief. She just about had time to go home and get something to drink before going to her second job. She grabbed her coat and her bag and headed out the back door, through the back-alleys of the Skid Row part of Andytown.

As Jessie continued to walk down the alley, she heard footsteps that weren't hers. Looking back, she saw the guy who'd been following her all day. She picked up her pace and he did too. She started to run. So did he.

_**Run faster!**_

What was that?

Jessie stopped. She'd heard a voice in her mind – the voice of that man in her dream. Was she going crazy, hearing things?

_**Don't stop!**_ The voice in her head was screaming at her to keep going, but it was too late. The guy caught up to her, grabbed her by the hair and pressed a knife to her throat.

* * *

After she'd told him off in her sweet Southern drawl, Buzz couldn't help but stare at Jessica Pride. She was certainly interesting – she went about her work with determination, even though she clearly did not want to be there, and somehow managed to completely ignore all the men who were jeering at her. She had a stream of freckles running across her nose, from one cheek to the other. It was incredibly cute, Buzz thought to himself.

When he noticed her leaving, Buzz quietly signalled to the rest of his team to tail her. It looked like they would have to confront her at her place of residence.

However, they had to step in when somebody else began to follow the girl. And Buzz was ready to kill when the guy pressed a knife to her pale throat.

"Oh my God," Mira whispered in shock – shock and, Buzz noticed, realisation. "Buzz, I think that guy's gonna rape her."

Well, Buzz certainly wasn't going to allow _that_ to happen. Taking careful aim, he shot the guy square in the back and ran forward to catch the body and make sure the Pride girl wasn't hurt.

She stared at him, terrified.

"Wadda ya want?" she asked, in a timid voice. Then she regained her composure, recognising them. "Look mister, I thought I told you an' yer friends already, I ain't interested."

Buzz remained calm. "Miss Pride, my name is Buzz Lightyear," he told her, taking off the fedora and sunglasses, so she could see his face clearly. "This is Mira, Booster and X-R, my team. We rescued you from a crash site a few months ago."

Jessie stared blankly at the Buzz guy. He had brown hair and familiar, bright blue eyes, and he was well-built. The person he'd called Mira was blue-skinned, blue-eyed, and red-haired; she had a similar build to Jessie, and was very pretty. Booster was large, with red skin but a friendly expression. X-R was a robot… and a flirt, by the looks of it.

Jessie recognised the Buzz guy's voice. They were Team Lightyear – she remembered that from the crash.

"Okay," she said, stupidly.

"This guy's not dead," the Mira girl said. "He's gonna wake up soon." And then, to Jessie: "You wanna press charges?"

"Nah," Jessie said. "I mean, stuff like that happens all the time, right?"

There was a pause. "Not really… you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Miss Pride?" Buzz asked the girl. "Is there –"

"Jessie."

Buzz blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Just call me Jessie," she answered.

Buzz swallowed. "Okay… ah, Jessie, is there some place we can talk to you?"

Jessie shook her head, pulling her plait over her shoulder. "I gotta go now, or I'm gonna be late tah my other job an' I'll be fired."

Buzz turned to the rest of his team and gave them a meaningful look. "We'll take care of it," Booster promised.

* * *

Jessie Pride unlocked the door to her cluttered apartment and let the others go in first. The walls were a sepia-yellow mixture, the floors were light wood and the place was entirely cluttered. The coffee table was covered in magazines, newspapers and clothes. The loveseat, couch and armchair held coats and jackets and other items of clothing.

"Make yerselves at home," Jessie said, locking and bolting the door, and pulling across the chain-latch. "Just go ahead an' dump some the clothes on the floor."

Mira and Booster sat on the couch, and X-R took the loveseat. Buzz remained standing up.

"I need somethin' to eat," Jessie told them. "You guys want some food?"

Buzz nodded and Jessie went into the tiny kitchen. Buzz was staring at some of the photographs. They almost entirely featured Jessie Pride, although many had other people in them. The brown-haired man and a girl similar to Jessie, although slightly shorter, with red-blonde hair and blue eyes cropped up a lot. There was another blue-eyed blonde girl, with paler skin than Jessie, who had her arms around the brown-haired man in a lot of the photos.

Buzz paused at one photograph. In the photo, Jessie looked maybe seven or eight. Where her bridge of freckles was, her face was flushed bright red. Her plaited hair hung at her shoulders in two plaited pigtails.

Golden sunlight beat down and she sat on the comfortable-looking cushions of a seat-swing in the middle of a sea of healthy-green grass, long enough to reach the seat of the swing, which it did. Four other people sat there with her. They all looked a bit squashed in together, but it didn't seem to bother them.

The brown-haired man, about ten or eleven in this picture, sat on the far right from the viewpoint of whoever had take the photo. He wore a pair of jeans but no shirt. The pale blonde girl was beside him, her head on his shoulder and holding his left hand with her right, their hands resting in his lap. She wore a pink miniskirt and a pale tank-top with a knitted pink cotton cardigan spread across her lap, where a young lamb sat, her left hand resting on its back. His head was against hers. They were the same age, Buzz realised.

Next to them, in the middle of the swing, was the red-blonde girl, her hair in the same style as Jessie, her face flushed red as well, with matching freckles. She and Jessie seemed the same age; Buzz realised they must be twins. The red-blond had a yellow-ish Stetson hat on her lap and wore a yellow top with denim shorts. Like the other blond and the boy who seemed to be Jessie's brother, her legs dangled below her, hidden by the sea of grass. She was slumped against Jessie, who sat next to her, in the same outfit. Jessie's legs, however, were curled up underneath her, revealing that she was wearing a pair of light brown gladiator-style sandals.

The person on the far left, squished in next to Jessie, was another boy. Like the boy holding hands with the blonde, the boy next to Jessie was shirtless. He was wearing pale shorts and his legs, too, were beneath him, on the seat.

Picking the photograph up and holding so he could see it better, Buzz could see that the boy was blushing a little, his and Jessie's heads together. The boy was tanned, and had light brown, wavy hair which was a little too long and rather scruffy. Jessie's left hand hung loosely on the boy's left shoulder and his left hand was just visible on her left shoulder, playing absently with her plaited pigtail. His right hand was raised to his right shoulder. Buzz realised that Jessie's right arm was around the boy's shoulders and they were holding hands.

All five of the children were flushed from the heat of the day; and their eyes were all closed, the corners of their mouths pulled up. They were all asleep, and smiling.

Buzz stared at the picture. It was like something out of a dream.

A bit of paper was sticking out the back of the picture frame. Buzz took the paper out and unfolded it. The paper was old and looked like it had been torn out of a book. Buzz stared at the all-too-familiar, neat handwriting.

_This isn't good-bye_

_Buzz_

And then a heart.

A _heart_.

* * *

**A/N: Impossibly cheesy, predictable chappie. I wanted to look of the photo to be a bit like the colours of Jessie's flashback in **_**Toy Story **_**2. See ya next time!**


	5. Memories Returning

**A/N: Howdy! I don't own **_**Toy Story**_**, or **_**Buzz Lightyear of Star Command**_** *sniff*.**

**More cheesy-ness here. Flashback time.**

**Cowgirl: Thankies so much ^^**

* * *

**Chapter Five: Memories Returning**

Jessie came out of the kitchen with some heated-up TV dinners and a few cups of coffee. Everybody grabbed some, but Buzz stayed where he was. Jessie walked up behind him; tapped him on the shoulder.

"Buzz?" she asked. "You okay?"

Buzz turned around. He was holding the picture, and a bit of paper.

"Buzz?"

Buzz took a step towards Jessie, holding out the picture. Jessie took the picture and stared at it. She didn't recognise anybody but herself. Jessie turned her gaze to Buzz, staring blankly. He handed her the note. She still didn't get it. But Mira, who was looking over her shoulder, did.

"Let's go," she said to Booster and X-r, leading them into the kitchen and closing the door.

"Mira, what's going on?" asked Booster.

Mira explained.

* * *

"Jessie, don't you get it?" Buzz asked. He pointed to the boy sitting next to the eight-year-old-Jessie. "That boy – that's me! I wrote that note; it's in my handwriting. We know each other."

Jessie shook her head, trying to clear it. "Y'all are confusin' me, Buzz."

She had to sit down on the loveseat. Buzz tipped the rest of the clothes onto the floor and sat down next to her. "Jessie, I think I know how to get your memory back."

Jessie paused. "You're not gonna kiss me, are ya?"

This time, Buzz paused. His blue eyes focussed on Jessie's pale lips. They were slightly parted. She'd been joking about Buzz kissing her, but it was a very tempting idea. Buzz realised he was starting to lean toward her. Buzz reached his hand up to Jessie's cheek, but she caught his wrist.

"Jessie…" Buzz whispered, trying his best not to hide his disappointment. "What's wrong? Don't you want to remember?"

Buzz's eyes flicked up to the emerald-green of Jessie's eyes, which turned down, to her lap. She let the hand holding his wrist fall but never let go of his wrist. "What if it don't work?"

Buzz sighed. Kissing wasn't even what he was going to suggest, but now she'd put the idea in his head, and he wasn't going to give up that easily.

Judging by the fact that he'd only seen himself in that one photograph, Buzz figured he must've only known Jessie for a short while; perhaps the one summer. He didn't honestly know; at Star Command, they blanked out your memories prior to joining up, leaving everything vital, like important festivals from your home, to keep everybody safe. But sometimes, other memories made it through.

After all, Mira had been able to remember the boy she'd fallen in love with, from when she hadn't been a Space Ranger – just the princess of her home planet.

"Jessie…" Buzz whispered again. "You won't know if it'll work until you try it."

Buzz saw Jessie's eyes searching his face. When she didn't – or did; Buzz wasn't sure – find what she was looking for, she sighed. "Okay."

_Buzz got put his bags into the car outside the holiday cottage and sighed. He didn't want to leave. He liked it there. It was nice. And he got to see Jessie every day; and her brother had quickly become his best friend. Buzz asked his mom if he could have a couple minutes alone, and wondered round the front yard._

"_Buzz!"_

_Buzz turned round. Three kids were running towards him – Jessie's sister, her brother and his girlfriend._

"_We wanted to say good-bye," said the sister._

"_Jessie didn't want to," said the brother._

"_She'll be along in a minute," the girlfriend winked._

_Buzz smiled. "I hope so." He held his hand out to the others. "See you."_

_The girls hugged him tight, and the brother patted him on the back. "Don't you go forgetting about us, Buzz," he said, adjusting his Stetson hat on his head._

"_I won't," Buzz promised._

"_Buzz!" Jessie screamed, pounding down the gravel pathway. The others stood off to the side._

_Jessie crashed into Buzz and wrapped her arms around him. He stumbled backwards a bit but steadied himself, gently holding her. Jessie buried her face in Buzz's chest and started to cry._

"_No Jessie," Buzz begged quietly, rocking her back and forth. "Don't cry. Come on Jessie, please don't cry."_

_Jessie sniffed, mumbled something muffled and incoherent into his chest and looked up. Her bottom lip was trembling and tears were streaming down her face. "Please don't go," she begged. "Please Buzz, I'm beggin' ya. Don't leave."_

"_Aw, Jess…" Buzz pushed a strand of wavy red hair out of her face. "I'll be back."_

_Jessie sniffed and wiped some of the tears out of her eyes. "Promise?"_

_Buzz nodded. "Promise."_

"_Hey, Buzz!" Jessie's brother wanted to talk to Buzz in private. Buzz went with him. "Why'd you promise Jessie you'd be back? You and I both know, we'll probably never see you again."_

"_I don't like it when she cries," Buzz admitted._

_The brown-eyed boy patted his best friend on the back. "Well then… good on ya. If ya never come back, she deserves to be with someone EXACTLY like you, Buzz."_

"_Good to know. Thanks."_

"_No problem. You gonna say something else to her?"_

_Buzz looked back at Jessie. The two other girls were comforting her and she was crying again. He nodded, and approached Jessie again. Just like last time, she flung herself at him and buried her face in his chest. Buzz tried to hold his own tears back as he gently stroked her hair. "It's okay Jess, it's alright."_

"_No it's not!" Jessie wailed, still crying. "You're leavin', Buzz! O' COURSE it ain't alright!"_

_Buzz sighed. "Jessie, we're eight. You're acting like we're twenty-two, or something."_

_Jessie mumbled something incoherent and muffled again and Buzz sighed. There didn't seem to be any way to get Jessie to stop crying._

"_Jess, please," Buzz begged. "Don't cry. You know I don't want to go."_

"_So don't."_

"_I have to."_

"_But why?" Jessie whined. "Why can't ya stay here?"_

_Buzz didn't answer. He just pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to her. "This is for you," he said. Still moping, Jessie took the present, which had been wrapped up in newspaper, and tore the paper off. Buzz held the present up. It was a small conch shell – his favourite, actually; it was a present from his father – and he'd drilled a hole through it, and tied it onto a piece of string._

"_Buzz…" Jessie whispered, as he hung the necklace around her neck. She looked like she was going to cry again. "Oh…"_

"_W-what's wrong?"_

"_It's just… I didn't get you anything to say good-bye."_

_Buzz took a book out of his pocket – a Star Command handbook, no less (on account of he planned to join up, and she knew it) – and tore a corner out. He wrote "_This isn't good-bye_", signed his name and drew a heart. Then he handed it to Jessie._

"_Buzz, you didn't hafta do that," she whispered. "That was a Star Command handbook."_

"_I know."_

"_Buzz!" his mother called. "We need to leave now!"_

"_I'll miss you, Jessie," Buzz said. She hugged him tight, and he turned her face up to his._

_Suddenly, Jessie realised that there WAS something she could give him as a parting present._

_Buzz was surprised when Jessie practically dived at him, and kissed him._

* * *

When Mira decided it was safe to re-enter the room, she, Booster and X-R found Jessie and Buzz sitting together on the love seat. Jessie was sobbing into Buzz's chest – that single memory coming back had been almost too much for her – and Buzz was cradling her gently, rocking her back and forth. He looked up at the arrival of his team and pressed a finger to his lips. Mira nodded as she and the others sat down on the couch, and Buzz continued to comfort Jessie.

Eventually, the cowgirl fell asleep, so Buzz carried her into her room, and tucked her in. In her sleep, she snuggled into the warmth of her covers. That was when Buzz noticed it.

A conch-shell necklace hung around her neck. She'd never taken it off.

* * *

**A/N: Wanted to include more memories, but thought this was a nice place tah end off. More memories coming soon. See ya next time!**


	6. Sick

**A/N: Howdy! I don't own **_**Toy Story**_**, or **_**Buzz Lightyear of Star Command**_** *sniff*.**

**More cheesy-ness here. Flashback time.**

**FanficAddict02: No problem, thankies for the awesome reviews! I thought putting "This isn't good-bye" sounded kinda cheesy in the flashback, but oh well ^^**

**Kris: Thanks. I'm gonna tell soon though, don't worry ^^**

**Keep-me-posted: Happy to know you're enjoying it ^^ and no, that's probably my fault. Buzz realised that he and Jessie knew each other when he saw the picture and read the note, and they DID kiss to bring the memory back, it worked for both of 'em… guess I didn't make it clear enough (oopsies)…**

* * *

**Chapter Six: Sick**

Jessie woke up very slowly that morning. She'd had the strangest dream. She'd dreamt that her childhood sweetheart had come to visit her, now that they were older. It was so surreal.

Jessie checked the time. Damn! She was gonna be late for work.

She grabbed a sweater and some jeans, put them on, and ran into the living room to grab her jacket.

Then she stopped.

The kitchen door was open, and X-R was cooking something. Booster was watching TV, and Mira was reading today's newspaper. And Buzz was sitting on the couch, looking through some old photo albums, his back to her.

* * *

_Jessie got up on the first day of summer vacation, still in her bright yellow pyjamas, and walked downstairs._

_Her sister was watching cartoons. Her brother and his girlfriend were sitting together, holding hands; no surprises there._

_But on the couch, next to Jessie's brother, there was a boy she didn't recognise. He had his back to her and seemed to be looking through one of her brother's photo albums._

"_Jessie!" her sister called, looking up from the TV. The red-blonde girl bounded over and hugged her twin. "This is Buzz! He's staying in the holiday cottage for the whole summer!"_

_The boy on the couch looked up at Jessie. She heard him inhale sharply._

_He had bright, intelligent blue eyes and brown hair so pale it was almost blond._

Buzz_…_

* * *

Buzz turned to look at Jessie. She seemed a little confused, but otherwise fine.

"You okay?"

She nodded mutely.

"Do you need some more rest?"

Jessie shook her head. "I gotta get to work."

"No you don't," said Mira, looking up from the newspaper. "I called them earlier. You can take as long off as you need."

"Thanks," Jessie smiled. Mira smiled back.

"No problem."

"C'mere Jess," Buzz said, making room for her on the couch.

* * *

_Jessie stared at him for a moment._

"_Come on," Buzz said, patting the seat. "It's okay. I don't mind."_

_Jessie looked to the others. Her brother nodded, his girlfriend smiled and Jessie's sister pushed her forward a bit. So, she sat on the couch next to Buzz, who gave her the kind of smile that would've had some of her Disney-princess-movie-obsessed friends swooning._

_Well, it certainly made _her_ heartbeat pick up._

* * *

Buzz didn't miss the slightly far-off look in Jessie's eyes. "Jessie?" he asked. "Did you…?"

"Yeah," Jessie said quietly. She still looked exhausted. Remembering her past seemed to be wearing her out.

"Do you want to go back to sleep?"

Jessie shook her head. "Can't. I'm up now."

Buzz half-shrugged, half-sighed. "Alright. But if you need to sleep, go ahead and sleep."

"Thanks." Jessie yawned and leaned against Buzz, like she didn't quite trust herself to stay awake. "Whatcha doin'?"

"I found your photo albums," Buzz explained. "I thought it might help to bring your memory back."

"Oh."

Buzz glanced at Jessie. Her expression was unreadable. "What's wrong?"

Jessie closed her eyes, looking more tired than ever. "Nothin'. I'm fine."

Mira looked over again. "Oh no you're not," she said, concerned. "Jessie, I think you might be ill."

"I'm fine," Jessie repeated.

But she wasn't. It was obvious. She was turning sickly pale, and Buzz could see a thin coating of cold sweat on her forehead. He grabbed Jessie by the shoulders and turned her to face him. Her head hung limply and she continued to insist that she was fine, but her words were becoming slurred and quiet.

"Jessie? Jessie, listen to me; try and stay awake!"

"'M awright, lemme alone Buzz… 'M fine…"

* * *

Jessie woke up in her own bed for the fourth time that day. Damn! It was getting worse!

After the first three times, Jessie had gotten used to Buzz and the others actually being there when she woke up.

_Three!_ Three damn times she'd passed out by now! Why? Before the accident, she'd never passed out (as far as she could remember) and then the crash had happened, and now she generally passed out once or twice a week. But _three_ times, in _one day_! It just didn't make sense to her.

Jessie felt like she was going to be sick. She was about to get up when a voice next to her said, "Oh no you don't."

Jessie looked around in surprise. "Mira! What're ya doin' in my room?"

Mira was sitting in the armchair from the living room, reading a book she'd borrowed from the small stack of books in Jessie's bedroom. She turned her eyes to the pale cowgirl, and shrugged.

"Sorry there, Jessie. Orders from the Boss. You're not moving until you get better. But hey, there's a bucket next to the bed if you think you're gonna be sick."

"Great," Jessie complained, dropping back onto her pillow. "What if I gotta go to the bathroom?"

"You've got an en-suite, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Buzz'll never know."

"I'm so bored," Jessie complained. "Why can't I get up 'n watch TV or sommat?"

"You passed out three times, Jessie. Besides, it was Buzz's idea, not mine. He's just doing it because he cares about you."

* * *

_Jessie lay in bed and groaned. "Buzz, this ain't funny! Lemme get up!"_

_Buzz's bright blue eyes swivelled to meet Jessie's gaze and he held the damp cloth on her forehead. It was cold and wet; water trickled down her face and into her hair. Buzz smiled sympathetically._

"_I know it's not funny," he said quietly. "You've been coughing non-stop all day."_

"_That ain't tr–"_

_Jessie was interrupted by a particularly bad coughing fit which made her throat sore._

_Buzz raised an eyebrow in a my-point-exactly kind of way._

"_Shut up," Jessie told him, her throat uncomfortably sore. She reached for the glass of water Buzz had put on the end table by her bed, but it was empty._

"_I'll get you some more water," Buzz said, taking the glass from Jessie's pale hand and standing up._

"_That's okay! I can get it myself," Jessie said, desperately trying to get up._

_Buzz chuckled slightly. "Don't even think about it, Jess. You get some rest and I'll be right back."_

"_C'mon Buzz," Jessie complained. "I just got a summer cold. I get 'em every year. I'll be fine in a couple days."_

"_Yeah," Buzz pointed out. "A couple days. And until then, I want you to rest." Then he left the room, closing the door gently behind him and disappearing down the staircase._

"_I never had tah rest before!" Jessie hollered after him. "And I always been fine then!"_

"_Just do it," Buzz called up the stairs._

_Jessie heard a light laugh as her sister walked into the room._

"_Wadda ya want?" Jessie asked moodily. Her sister pretended to be insulted, placing a hand over her chest._

"_Well," she said, "I can see I'm not wanted here. I guess I'll just go."_

"_Naw, ya can stay," Jessie said. "Buzz is jest gettin' on my nerves."_

"_Well, you know what the girls from school would say," Jessie's sister laughed. "They'd tell you to make the most of it. They'd probably go on about how it's not every day you get some handsome guy taking care of you."_

"_Handsome?"_

_Jessie's sister shrugged in response._

"_Them girls watch too many movies, anyways," Jessie said. "They gotta stop. It's stupid."_

"_They just want their Prince Charmings."_

"_At eight? Bit young to be wantin' to fall in love, innit? You'll never catch ME doin' that!"_

"_Okay, okay. Calm down Jess. Geez."_

_Jessie crossed her arms. "This is the worst summer ever," she sulked. "I wanna get up."_

"_Just play along," her sister advised. "He's just doing it because he cares about you."_

"_Yeah right," Jessie grumbled._

* * *

"Jessie?" Mira asked. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Jessie shook her head, to clear it. "Just havin' a flashback."

"You going back to sleep?"

"I hope not. I'm fine."

"You said that _last_ time, and _both_ times before that." Mira examined Jessie's face carefully. She honestly _did_ look better, unlike she had done before. Her skin was going back to its usual pale – a healthy pale; not a sickly pale with a greenish tinge – and even though she looked a bit shaky, Jessie didn't seem as tired anymore, either. The dark rings under her eyes were gradually fading.

"Okay. I'll be right back." Mira stopped just before she left the room, and pointed at Jessie. "Stay."

Then she left and closed the door behind her. Jessie was up in a flash, listening at the door.

"She looks better now," Mira was saying. "Go in and see her."

"She'll be mad at me," Buzz complained. "She had a summer cold when we were eight and she was mad at me _then_ for looking after her, too."

"Well gee Buzz, for summer colds you only need cough medicine. You don't even need rest." **[*1]**

"I know. I knew then."

"So… why'd you do it?"

Buzz's voice was extremely quiet when he said, "Because I liked her. Even then."

Jessie pushed herself beck from the door and rushed into the bathroom to splash cold water into her face. Then she dried her face with the towel and then hopped back into her bad before anybody found out.

…even then…

When Jessie had got that summer cold, it had only been the second day of summer vacation. _WOW._

…even then…

Mira opened the door and pocked her head inside. "Hey, you alright?"

Jessie nodded. "Yeah."

"Buzz is coming in and I'm gonna leave you two alone, alright?"

"Sure. Fine. Go ahead."

"Okay," Mira said, walking back out. Buzz entered and closed the door behind him. He sat down on the bed next to Jessie, who tried to sit up but then decided she couldn't be bothered.

Buzz, Jessie noticed, was carrying a stack of photo albums. "Ready?"

Jessie nodded determinedly. "Yeah."

* * *

**A/N:**

***1 = I should know. I had a REALLY bad summer cold once. Apart from coughing a LOT – three freakin' weeks – I was basically normal**

**See ya next time!**


	7. Woody, Bo and Emily

**A/N: Howdy! I don't own **_**Toy Story**_**, or **_**Buzz Lightyear of Star Command**_** *sniff*.**

**More cheesy-ness here. Flashback time.**

**Purpledragon6: Thankies, I wanted to make it longer but oh well ^^**

**FanFicAddict02: Well I'll be honest, I HAVE been considering the possibility of a problem with bringing the memories back – it was different from a mental blockage but I LOVE THAT IDEA! PLEASE CAN I USE IT? PLEASE PLEASE, OH **_**PLEASE**_**?**

**Cowgirl: That's alright. I hate summer colds too. Whoever invented them was evil**

**Keep-me-posted: Thankies so much!**

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Woody, Bo and Emily**

Buzz opened the first photo album on the stack. It was faded brown leather with black pages and a sticker on the front read "_BEST SUMMER __**EVER!**_" in Jessie's scruffy handwriting. Jessie remembered that her sister, her brother, and even his girlfriend all had a copy of this album. They'd all written different things in their own copies, of course, but it was worth looking at the same pictures for hours on end just to see what had been going through all their minds at the time.

At the top of the first thick black page, Jessie could still make out "_FIRST DAY OF SUMMER VACATION_", which she'd scrawled in silver when she was younger.

The first picture was of all of them – Jessie's brother's girlfriend; Jessie's siblings; herself and then Buzz – sitting on the couch and watching _Up_. Jessie knew that was the movie, because that was all she'd written underneath it. "_UP_".

* * *

"Up_?" Buzz asked; a confused look on his face. "I've never seen that. Is it any good?"_

"_Good?" Jessie exclaimed, grabbing him by the shoulders. "GOOD? Are ya kiddin'? This movie's by _Disney/PIXAR_; it's WAY better'n good!"_

_Buzz chuckled lightly. "Do you always do this?"_

_Now it was Jessie's turn to look confused. "Do what?"_

"_Get over-excited about movies?"_

"_Yep," her brother answered, walking back into the room with a bowl of popcorn. "All the time. Not just about movies, either."_

* * *

Jessie laughed. "I remember that." Then she turned to glare at Buzz. "You stole my popcorn."

Buzz held up his hands in innocence. "It wasn't my idea!" Trying to change the subject, he flipped the book to a random page. At the top, Jessie had scribbled "_HAYSTACK DANCE_" in her almost unreadable handwriting. Jessie remembered that, where she had lived, there was a Dance in the huge hay barn her Uncle Pete owned. He normally bundled up the hay and moved it nearly all out, but because there were huge haystacks around the place still, the annual end-of-summer-vacation party had become known as Haystack Dance.

* * *

"_What's a Haystack Dance?" Buzz asked Jessie, seeing everybody else's excitement. Jessie, who was wearing red shorts and a yellow T-shirt, was sitting on the couch next to Buzz. Technically she was lounging, but Buzz was kinda in the way, so she was leaning on his bare chest, staring blankly at the television. The hot weather, and the fact that Buzz was a surprisingly comfortable person to lean against, was making her feel drowsy._

_Buzz himself was sitting next to the arm of the couch, his feet resting on a footstool, dressed in a pair of shorts. His left arm was draped around Jessie's shoulders, his hand absently playing with her hair, which was in its usual plaited pigtails; his other arm was around her waist._

"_Eh?" Jessie asked sleepily. "Haystack Dance?"_

"_Yeah," Buzz responded. "What is it?"_

_Jessie yawned loudly. "Some party-dance-thingie Uncle Pete has every year at the end o' the summer. I never go."_

"_Why not?"_

_Jessie shrugged. "No-one to go with."_

"_I'll go with you." Buzz had made the offer without thinking. It had just slipped out._

"_Really?" Jessie shifted to face Buzz. Her eyes were half-closed from drowsiness and she was probably going to fall asleep in a minute (although Buzz didn't have any complaints) but her green eyes sparkled. "I ain't never been asked to the Haystack Dance before, Buzz."_

_Buzz smiled at her. "Well, I'm asking you now. Apparently I'm the only one here with a brain, who isn't in your family. Do you wanna go to the Dance with me, Jessie?"_

_Jessie grinned at Buzz, showing off all her teeth, and flung her arms around his neck._

* * *

"I remember this," Buzz said, pulling Jessie out of the memory. "Your brother said he'd kill me if I stood you up."

"He's weird like that," Jessie agreed.

"Not really. Just overprotective."

"And annoying."

Buzz pointed to a picture. "Remember that?"

Jessie looked at the picture. Her brother was on the left, his hair combed back, wearing a yellow shirt, checked with red lines. He wore a pair of jeans and cowboy boots and carried his brown Stetson in his right hand.

On his left – or on the right of the photographer; whichever way you wanted to look at it – was his girlfriend, holding onto his hand. Her blonde hair was hung at her shoulders in golden ringlets and her blue eyes glittered with happiness. She wore what Jessie always called a Cinderella dress: one that went out at the hips. The dress was light pink and she looked like a princess.

Underneath the photo, Jessie had written, "_WOODY AND BO __FINALLY__ GO TO THE DANCE TOGETHER_".

* * *

"_Hang on!" Jessie was in her room finishing off, but she could hear her mom talking to Woody and Bo downstairs. "I need a photo of you two together."_

"_Mom," Woody complained. "I don't want my photo taken right now."_

"_Oh come on," Jessie heard Bo say. "It's only for one picture, Woody."_

"_Well… alright."_

_Jessie smirked to herself. Woody was such a pushover when it came to Bo._

* * *

"You should've seen the look on his face," Buzz laughed. "Hey, what about this one?"

The photograph was of Jessie and her twin sister, ready for the Dance. Jessie was in a yellow princess dress and silver low heels, her hair all in ringlets. Her sister was wearing a yellow knee-length dress that hung down from spaghetti straps and was covered in sequins, with a piece of matching ribbon ties at her waist. She wore light brown sandals and her hair was in a high ponytail.

It was entitled "_ME 'N EMILY BEFORE THE DANCE_".

* * *

"_Woah!" Jessie covered her eyes, blinded by the light reflecting off Emily's dress. "Jeez Em, get too close ter the sun an' yer gonna set fire tah the Earth."_

"_Ha, ha, ha," Emily laughed sarcastically. __"I like it. So does the boy who's taking me."_

"_Ooh, gotta boyfriend?" Jessie teased. "No wonder you're all glammed up."_

_Emily laughed, her ponytail bobbing up and down as she did. "Sure Jessie, and you're not."_

_Jessie blushed. "Okay, I get the message. Who ya goin' with?"_

_This time, Emily blushed. "Remember Sid Phillips?"_

_Jessie's top lip curled up in disgust. "That prat from daycare who wrecked stuff an' blow it up?"_

"_Yep. He asked me to meet him there," Emily answered. "He's a lot nicer now."_

_Jessie rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Let's go face the music."_

_They walked down the stairs and Jessie heard Buzz inhale sharply. He looked breathless. Then she saw what he was wearing._

_And had to bite her finger so hard she drew a little blood to stop herself from laughing._

"_It was Emily's idea," he defended quickly. Jessie was about to ask Emily if this was true, but her twin grabbed her and pulled her over to their mother, who snapped a photo immediately._

* * *

"Jess, you okay?" Buzz asked. She was starting to look tired again.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered. "I guess remembering all this stuff's just usin' up a lot o' my energy."

"I've heard that line before," Buzz said, ever-sceptical.

"Okay, I'm _normally_ fine," Jessie admitted. "C'mon, let's lookit summore photos."

"Are you –"

"If I gotta sleep then I will, alright?"

Buzz turned to argue with Jessie and found her face about three inches away from his. He hadn't realised she'd sat up but now he wasn't able to think about that. His eyes were locked on Jessie's green gaze, which she kept firmly trained on his face. To Buzz, the light reflecting in Jessie's eyes was hypnotic and he couldn't stop staring.

Too late to stop himself, Buzz realised he was sliding his nose past Jessie's, but he managed to stop there.

It didn't take long for Jessie to close the distance between them.

* * *

_Woody tapped Buzz on the shoulder. Buzz was wearing a mauve velvet shirt and purple trousers, and he felt like an idiot. The only thing that made him feel better was the fact that Jessie seemed to like it._

_Emily was off dancing with that Sid guy who Jessie didn't seem to like very much; and the rest of them were sitting on a stack of hay._

"_Last song is coming up," Woody said. "Ain't ya gonna dance with Jessie?"_

"_I've been dancing with her all night," Buzz said. Jessie nodded, complaining that her feet were sore._

"_That's a pity," Bo said, leading Woody out to the dance floor. "Because the last song's the slowdance."_

_Jessie immediately grabbed Buzz by the arm and dragged him into the middle of the dance floor. Somebody pointed and people stood back to watch. Apparently Jessie doing a slowdance with a boy was something unheard of here._

_It could, of course, be that Jessie was wearing a dress._

_Oh, it was a nice dress. Yellow, like she and her sister always wore. And Cinderella-princess-style. A yellow princess dress. But Jessie could have been in rags and Buzz would still have danced with her. But instead she was in a dress and silver shoes with low heels. And her hair was all in ringlets._

_Of course, it had been Emily who had come up with it. The whole prince-and-princess look, apparently, had been inspired by the fact that some of their friends were obsessed with princess movies. Jessie had been pleased to get out of wearing the tiara. So relieved, in fact, that she'd agreed to the dress without thinking what she was doing._

_The couple slowly danced across the floor, and then Jessie said, "Ya know Buzz, just cuz I'm in a dress don't mean ya gotta dance with me like I'm gonna break. Alright?"_

_Buzz smiled slyly, and idea coming to mind. "Sure."_

_And then, taking her entirely by surprise, Buzz spun Jessie away from him, pulled her back, swept her feet from under her and caught her just a foot or two off the ground, so that she was in a low dip._

"_Better?"_

_Jessie smirked. "A little."_

_And then Buzz locked his eyes on Jessie's, and he started to pull her out of the dip, so that their faces were very close. Buzz slid his nose past Jessie's and his lips hovered just above hers, but he stopped there._

_It didn't take long for Jessie to close the distance between them. _**[*1]**

* * *

The door slammed open and Buzz and Jessie pulled apart quickly, guilty expressions on their faces. Mira stood there.

"I'm not gonna ask what's going on in here," she said. "That's your business, not mine. X-R's probably gonna ask but I won't. Buzz, I just wanna warn you, you're in trouble now."

"Why?" Buzz asked. "What's wrong?"

"Apart from the fact that Commander Nebular knows we came here without permission? There's been some trouble with Gravitina and he wants us to go stop her."

Buzz groaned. "Oh no."

Jessie was confused now. "Who're ya talkin' about?"

Buzz got up to go change into his uniform in the en-suite bathroom and left Mira to explain. Mira sat next to Jessie.

"See Jess, because Buzz is a space ranger, he meets a lot of people. Some of them are cool, some of them are weird, and some of them –" she lowered her voice so only Jessie could hear "– are crazy. Gravitina fits into all those categories."

"How?"

Mira explained to Jessie about Gravitina, who could manipulate gravity to work any way she chose and was obsessed with Buzz.

"Not to mention, I hate her," Buzz added, as he came out of the bathroom in his suit. Jessie gave a low whistle at his appearance.

"Okay Mira," Buzz said. "You change into your suit and we'll go."

"Check." Mira went into the bathroom and Buzz sat down next to Jessie, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and kissing her forehead.

"It's going to be okay," Buzz said. "If you want, I'll let somebody stay behind to look after you."

"I knew it," Jessie said, pulling away from Buzz. She stood up and moved to the other side of the room. "Ya never stay."

Buzz didn't miss the disappointment in Jessie's voice, and it broke his heart. But even this time – and he knew she was referring to the summer they'd spent together – Buzz knew he had to go. When they were younger, he only _thought_ he had to go. He realised, he could – and _should_ – have stayed.

"Jessie, I'll come straight back," he promised. Jessie turned around, furious. Tears were streaming down her face and she screamed so loud it hurt Buzz's ears.

"_THAT'S WHAT YA SAID __**LAST**__ TIME!_" she yelled. "_AND YA NEVER CAME BACK!_"

Jessie turned away again. Buzz walked up to her and tried to put his arms around her again, but she threw him off. When Jessie spoke again, her voice was very low, and there was a lot of emotion inside it, but all the emotion was so jumbled together that Buzz couldn't tell which emotions they were.

"Just get out, Buzz. Get out an' don' come back. We both know you ain't comin' back anyways. Ya never did last time, even though ya promised me."

Guilt wasn't something Buzz usually felt, but right now a lot of weird things were happening, all at the same time. For that reason, Buzz wasn't really in any position to question how guilty he felt when he saw how upset Jessie was.

"Oh, Jessie…" Buzz put his arms around Jessie again and held her tight, so she couldn't get away. "Jessie, this time I'm coming back for definite. You hear me, Jessie? This time, I'm coming back to you."

"No ya ain't," Jessie said, very seriously. She managed to squirm around so that she was facing Buzz. Like yesterday she searched his face, this time probably looking for the reason Buzz was making another promise like this when he broke the last one. Buzz felt her shoulders drop slightly, like she was giving up.

"Yes," Buzz retorted. "I am. I'm going to fight that woman, and then I'm coming straight back for you."

"No," Jessie said again. "Ya ain't. Ya ain't comin' back for me, Buzz."

"Yes I –"

Jessie placed a kiss on Buzz's nose, effectively shutting him up. "Ya ain't comin' back, Buzz, cuz ya don' hafta. I'm goin' with ya." Then she slid both her hands onto her chest and leaned towards Buzz again, closing her eyes.

Buzz held Jessie's wrists away from his chest and took a step back. What was she _thinking_? Had she lost her mind?

"No," he said. "You're not. Jessie, it's too dangerous. This woman is mad!"

"About you, from what I heard," Jessie muttered.

Buzz could see the look on Jessie's face, and he knew it all too well. Her jaw was set and she was scowling. So she was going to be stubborn, was she? Buzz sighed.

"Jessie, you're in no position to argue with me on this. You're not coming."

Mira walked back into the living room without a word and Buzz did the same. Jessie followed him, saying, "I ain't lettin' you leave me again, Buzz Lightyear! I ain't no idiot!"

Buzz groaned.

"What's going on?" Mira asked.

"Jessie wants to come with us," Buzz said. "But she's being ridiculous. If Jessie thinks for a _second_ that I'd let her put herself at risk like that –"

Buzz was interrupted by the sound of Mira's laughter. She was laughing so hard she actually doubled over, clutching her sides. Buzz waited, unamused, until she had stopped.

"What's the joke?" X-R asked.

"Oh Buzz," Mira sighed in an amused way. "Here I was thinking all you cared about was paperwork. And then Jessie comes along. Jessie, I have a feeling we're gonna get along _really_ well."

"Thanks," Jessie said. "Mira, ya don' mind me joinin' you guys, do ya?"

"Are you kidding? Another girl on the team? Of course I don't mind!"

Jessie smiled at Mira in thanks, but Buzz in no way was putting up with this nonsense.

"Wait a minute!" he shouted, annoyed. "If either of you think I'm going to let –"

"We don't have time to argue!" Booster pointed out.

"Looks like Jessie's coming with us," Mira said, leading Jessie outside. "Come on Jess, there's a couple of spare suits in the ship you can use."

Jessie borrowed Mira's spare jumpsuit, but she didn't fit the armour and had to borrow Buzz's. Buzz himself was very annoyed with the fact that Jessie was coming along. He couldn't believe she would actually be so stupid as to risk her life by joining them! Didn't she realise how dangerous Gravitina was? He looked back at Jessie, who was chatting to Mira, and laughing…

_Oh yes,_ Buzz thought to himself. _Jessie should be laughing all the time._

Wait, he was supposed to be angry at her. Darn that Jessie and her bewitching good looks.

* * *

It wasn't too hard to find Gravitina, once they arrived in the general area. The ship was dragged towards where she housed herself this time: in a place very similar to the one she'd lived in the first time they'd encountered her.

The team began to leave the ship and Buzz stopped Jessie, blocking her in the doorway with his arm. "I think you'd better stay here, Jessie."

"No," Jessie said stubbornly, raising an eyebrow at him. "Mira, tell him!"

Mira rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Actually… I'm with Buzz on this one."

"Oh great," Jessie groaned, crossing her arms. "Thanks a lot!"

"Hey!" Mira ejected the wings on her suit and flew over to Jessie. "Don't take it that way Jess. Buzz is saying this because he's paranoid and thinks you'll hurt yourself because you haven't had any training. I'm agreeing with him because if Gravitina finds out what's going on between you and Buzz, she'll be really angry. I don't wanna think about what she'd do to you."

Jessie simply ducked under Buzz's arm and walked down the ramp to the ground. "I'll be fine; I can handle myself. And I ain't lettin' Buzz leave me again."

Mira smirked. "Wow Buzz, you really have a way with girls, huh?"

"This isn't funny," Buzz snarled. "Jessie, get back on the ship!"

"Make me!" Jessie challenged him. Buzz groaned and stomped down the ramp towards Jessie.

"Now you've done it," X-R whispered to her, as Buzz grabbed her arm and tried to pull her back to the ship.

"You're not coming with us," he told her.

"I got a choice," Jessie retorted, pulling her arm out of his grip. "And I ain't gonna wait around for ya no more, Buzz Lightyear."

Jessie looked more stubborn than ever – and somehow, Buzz caved in this time.

"Alright," he said. "Let's go, people."

As the rest of the team got ready to fly, Buzz stood behind Jessie and held her around the waist.

"Hey!" she cried indignantly. Then Jessie's voice changed and she teased flirtatiously, "Buzz, this probably ain't the best time to be gettin' close. I mean, the rest of the team's watchin'."

Buzz simply rolled his eyes. "This is serious, Jessie."

"Aw Buzz, I can fly myself!"

"You don't know how," Buzz told her, ejecting his wings. "Hold on tight, Jessie."

"Okay," Jessie smiled, leaning back a bit and holding Buzz's arms. "Whatever ya say, Buzz."

Buzz held Jessie tighter. He could smell her hair, and he was enjoying the feeling as her hair tickled his cheeks.

"Er… can we skip the flirting until _after_ we've beat the annoying loony who's obsessed with Buzz, please?" Mira asked.

"You're right," Jessie said. "Okay Buzz, let's go."

"Okay."

* * *

There was an open window they managed to fly in through, but then they had to proceed on foot. Even Jessie understood to be as quiet as possible. The only exception was as they were sneaking through a dark hallway.

"Hey Buzz, does this remind ya of sommat?"

* * *

_It was long past midnight. Probably closer to one or two in the morning. Emily led the way, wielding a very low-wattage flashlight that barely showed anything in the dark. Behind her was Jessie, and then Buzz. They crept through the dark hallway, past Mr and Mrs Pride's bedroom, towards Woody's room._

_Jessie was carrying a bucket of warm water (and a marker, in case the water didn't work)._

* * *

Buzz chuckled to himself. "The water didn't work, did it?"

"I dunno," Jessie replied. "It worked pretty good when ya poured it on him so it looked like he wet himself."

They lapsed back into silence until they reached a well-furnished room where they could see Gravitina, a tall, blue-skinned woman with an extremely large head above what could have been a fairly pretty face, if she didn't look so evil. She wore a long dress that suited her nicely and was facing away from them.

Buzz, Mira, Booster and X-R burst into the room, lasers carefully aimed at Gravitina. Jessie followed behind them, mimicking what they did and trying to recall what she'd read when she'd borrowed Buzz's _Star Command_ handbook sixteen and a half years ago.

They crept towards the evil woman and, luckily for them, she didn't notice. She was still facing away from them.

When they were almost directly behind Gravitina, Buzz cleared his throat. Jessie nervously moved closer to him.

Gravitina turned around to face them and gave a wicked smile.

"Well," she said, "this is a surprise."

Her eyes moved around the group until she spotted the redheaded human with the green eyes, hiding behind Buzz slightly.

Jessie felt nervous as she was dragged towards Gravitina by what seemed to be thin air, but squared her shoulders and straightened up in a way that – she hoped – made her seem like she wasn't scared.

Buzz watched tensely as Gravitina's examined Jessie with an air of being better than the redhead. She shouldn't have come along; she really shouldn't. Why did he let Jessie come along? He should have made her stay at home, where she was safe and wouldn't get hurt. He watched as Gravitina's eyes stopped at the nametag on the armour Jessie was wearing. Buzz's spare armour.

Damn. It said "_LIGHTYEAR_". That was certain to give the wrong message.

And then Gravitina turned to Buzz.

"Well," she said, "this certainly _is_ a surprise, Buzz. You didn't even invite me to the wedding. I'm hurt, Buzz. I really am."

Gravitina grabbed Jessie's shoulder and turned her to face Buzz. Her grip was so hard it made Jessie wince in pain.

"We're not married," Buzz said. "And don't touch her."

"No?" Gravitina ignored the threat, tightening her grip on Jessie. "Then who is she? Your sister?"

"We're not related."

Gravitina's grip tightened again and Jessie had to close her eyes to try and block out the pain. She tried to duck away but it didn't work. "So why is your name on her suit?"

"Let go of her!" Buzz shouted.

Gravitina did – then used her power to fling Jessie into the wall behind her. Jessie crashed into a heavily-framed mirror, which shattered. She fell into a shower of glass and the frame landed heavily on top of her as she crumpled to the floor, a sickening crunch coming from her right leg. Buzz tried to run to help her but Gravitina wouldn't let him. He was forced to stand there and watch, as if trapped by an invisible box, as blood began to trickle down Jessie's face, neck, sides, arms, legs… **[*2]**

_Oh God,_ he thought helplessly, _I've failed. I wanted to keep her safe and I've failed._

But the others were still able to move. Booster managed to cut the chain of a chandelier above Gravitina using his laser, and he and X-R managed to subdue her and call for backup.

Mira, meanwhile, ran over to Jessie to see how badly she was injured. She struggled a bit with the heavy mirror frame but managed to push it away, and was then joined by Buzz, who was able to move again.

"How bad is it?" he asked frantically.

"Her leg's broken pretty badly but the medics can fix it. And the glass is in pretty deep, but I think I can Ghost it out. If I pull it out or leave it there it could kill her."

Buzz nodded mutely. Mira stared at him for a moment. He looked like he was trying not to cry. She put a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"It's gonna be okay, Buzz."

Buzz nodded mutely again and Mira began Ghosting the glass out of Jessie. It took a long time and all her concentration, but finally she got it all out.

"There," she said, satisfiedly tearing some cloth off her jumpsuit and using it to clean up Jessie's wounds. "That's the best I can do."

"Oh God," Buzz muttered.

Mira realised she should leave Buzz here now. "I'll, er, go help the others."

When Mira was gone, Buzz wrapped his arms protectively around the pale shoulders of Jessie's limp body, feeling almost certain she was dead. She was bleeding so badly still, and Buzz could practically feel her dying in his arms. He held her face against his chest and cried into her hair.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered to her, as though she could hear him.

* * *

When the backup – and the medics – arrived, Buzz was still cradling Jessie carefully, rocking her back and forth. The medics took Jessie from his on the promise that they'd help her in every way they could, and they were forced to return to Star Command.

* * *

_Jessie walked to the front of the small ship, where Woody was setting it to autopilot. She sat down and stared at the stars. "Bullseye's okay," she said automatically, referring to their horse. "Just a little sleepy. He's restin' up now."_

_Woody turned a concerned gaze to Jessie. "We know where Emily is now, Jess. We know who's got her, and what he wants. We'll get her back. But we have to go home now."_

_Jessie nodded, not looking at him. "I know."_

"_I can't wait to get home," Woody said, trying to distract his sister. He leaned back in his chair and Jessie forced a laugh._

"_You just wanna see Bo again." Woody and Bo were engaged now, but they'd had to put it off because Emily had been kidnapped. "I do too," she added. "She's a real nice gal. We been out here for weeks. I miss her too."_

And good for you,_ Jessie thought, but she didn't say it out loud._

"_We'll be home soon, Jess," Woody promised. "And so will Emily."_

_Jessie smiled. Something outside the window caught her eye. "Hey Woody, what's that?"_

_Woody saw where Jessie was pointing and stood up, curious. "What the…"_

_**BOOM!**_

_In a flash of blindingly white light, everything was gone, and Jessie was stranded in the ruins of the ship, in agony; burnt and bleeding. Shakily, her hands fumbled through the smouldering wreckage until she found the radio. Tears were running down her cheeks, but she was too scared for the others to care._

"_Help!" she screamed desperately into the radio for a good ten, maybe fifteen minutes. "I been attacked! Help!"_

_Finally, someone replied. "_This is Team Lightyear responding. Over._"_

_Star Command. She knew something about them – what was it? She couldn't remember. But they could help; get her and the others out alive. Where were they? She called out to Woody and Bullseye, but there was no response. So she turned back to the radio._

"_We were hit!" she yelled desperately. "I dunno where the others are! I think he got 'em." Wait, who were the others? And who was "he"? Suddenly, Jessie couldn't remember. Why was she even here?_

"_I been injured!"_

_Jessie tried making a flag by ripping off some of her jeans and tying it to a pole. Her movements were becoming slow and her whole body felt heavy. "I don't think I can stay conscious fer longer… help…"_

_A familiar voice asked where she was and she gave the general location as her vision tunnelled and everything sounded distant; far away. Then she blacked out._

* * *

Jessie woke up in a hospital. Her right leg was killing her and she was wrapped in bandages, hooked up to a life support system. Next to her, Buzz sat holding her hand and crying.

"B-Buzz?" Jessie asked weakly. He looked up and she saw tears of happiness forming in his blue eyes. "What's goin' on?"

Buzz didn't answer – he simply threw his arms around her, hugging her tight. The rest of his team stood behind him.

"Guys? What is it?"

None of them would meet Jessie's eyes, or look at Buzz. Finally, Booster spoke up. His voice was gentle; sympathetic. "You've been in a coma for three weeks. The medics were about to pull the plug."

Buzz stopped hugging Jessie and examined her. He brushed some of her hair out of her face; cupped her face in his hands. "Jessie, how are you? Better?"

"Yeah," she muttered. "I am. And – and I remember."

"How much?"

"A lot. That summer – there's bits missin'. I remember everythin' else."

"Thank God you're alright," Buzz whispered, breathless with relief. He leaned down and kissed her.

* * *

**A/N: 16 pages! w00t!**

***1 = This probably would've happened between Spanish Buzz and Jessie in TS3 if Woody hadn't interrupted. It would've if I'd written it, definitely.**

***2 = Damn, my stories are getting DARK!**

**See ya next time!**


	8. Microchip

**A/N: Howdy! I don't own **_**Toy Story**_**, or **_**Buzz Lightyear of Star Command**_** *sniff*.**

**Purpledragon6: Thankies so much ^^**

**Keep-me-posted: What a lovely review! Sorry I can't respond to it all, it's pretty long. If ya wanna see how the argument panned out, I'll write it as a separate story ^^**

**Cowgirl: I agree with ya on that one!**

**Michael Jackson is my soul: Aww thankies! I do try to get everything right, and – damn! There goes my ending! LOL joking, I was only gonna use Zurg like, once anyways…**

**FanFicAddict02: Thankies, I got a great idea for it! I loved the review; BTW, it woulda made a great ad!**

**Ursos: Thanks, I really appreciate it**

**Jessie – Princess Prairie: Thanks!**

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Microchip**

A twenty-four-and-a-half-year-old woman with blue eyes and red-blonde hair sat in a cement room furnished with only a lumpy metal bed; a book that was torn, dirty and old; and a very dim light. In one corner were a filthy mirror, a sink that worked very slowly, and a toilet with a rusting seat. At the bottom of the locked metal door was a cat flap, which occasionally opened to reveal the woman's cold, disgusting meals of lumpy porridge for breakfast, burnt toast for lunch, a cold tin of beans for dinner and freezing soup for supper.

The woman herself was in complete disarray. Dried blood ran from her face and caked her filthy, matted hair. She hadn't had a change of clothes (dirty jeans and a ripped yellow sweater) since the day she'd been put in the room. But she wanted out.

Her name was Emily Pride, and she had developed a plan to escape.

* * *

"Wadda ya want?" Jessie demanded.

She was sitting in a wheelchair – she wasn't quite ready to walk again just yet – in a star Command jumpsuit. She had been allowed to join up and would join Buzz's team as soon as she recuperated and passed her training. But for now, she was sitting in a wheelchair, facing the woman who had put her there.

Gravitina was sitting back in her cell, wearing an orange prisoner-issue jumpsuit that didn't look good on her. She had specifically asked to see Jessie, who was sitting on the other side of the lazer-bars.

Gravitina pretended to be insulted. "Is that how you say thank you where you come from?"

"What, you think I should thank ya fer tryin' tah kill me?"

"That was an accident. My aim was off."

Jessie laughed harshly. "Yeah right."

"Yes," Gravitina answered. "That's right. I meant to save your life. I put a chip in your shoulder. That's why I had to grip your shoulder so hard."

"Don' be stupid. I ain't got nothin' in my shoulder."

"Not now. The idiot doctors took it out."

Jessie's eyes narrowed suspiciously. This story was pretty darn hard to believe. "Why would ya wanna do that, eh? I heard 'bout yer 'crush' on Buzz. Why would ya wanna save _me_?"

Gravitina leaned towards Jessie and lowered her voice, so that Jessie had to lean in too. "You didn't hear this from me or I'm dead, alright? But that accident with your ship? It wasn't an accident. Buzz gets on the wrong side of a lot of bad people –"

"An' ya think _you_ ain't one of 'em?" Jessie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's not my point. My point is, they all want revenge. They thought that attacking his weak spot – you – might do the trick. You'd forget about him and he'd try to get your memory back."

"Duh. What else is new?"

"That chip was meant to stop you from remembering anything else."

"Why?" Jessie demanded. "Why would ya wanna do that?"

Gravitina lowered her head even further. "Every time you remember, it makes you ill, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. And?"

"And when you remember everything… you know what? You don't wanna know."

"Yeah I do. Sure I wanna know. Tell me."

"Fine. It'll kill you. I decided, I don't want a murder on my hands. I knew he'd look for you and I knew he'd be sent after me. I figured you'd tag along."

Jessie didn't say anything. Just rolled herself away in the damn chair.

* * *

_Emily cried out in pain as the cowhide whip cut her back open and down her skin trickled hot, sticky blood. Her back stung worse than hell but she wouldn't let herself cry. If you cried, you showed weakness. And you couldn't afford to show weakness. Not here._

"_Hold on," said a voice from behind her. "This is getting boring. Take her back to the cell. I've got a better idea for if she gets out again."_

* * *

Well, Emily certainly knew what that "better idea" was now. What were they using? Matches? Candles? No. Something else. But it was burning up her back pretty darn badly. They were definitely using fire – a pinpoint of fire. What were they using? A blowtorch? Maybe…

Jessie opened her eyes when she heard a knock at the door. "Yeah?"

"It's me," Buzz said from the other side of the door. "Can I come in?"

Jessie's pyjamas at the moment were a low-cut strappy top and a pair of shorts; she pulled the duvet up to her chin and said, "Sure."

The door opened and Buzz walked in, dressed in his pyjamas – sweatpants and a t-shirt – and carrying something.

"Lights," Jessie muttered. The lights in the small room came on and the door slid shut behind Buzz. Now she could see what he was carrying – a space suit?

"This is yours," he told her, putting the brand new jumpsuit and armour on the end of her bed. Jessie stared at it in awe. And the nametag. It said "_PRIDE_".

"The medics measured you last time you went in, remember? It should fit perfectly. What do you think?"

"I love it," Jessie said breathlessly. "I can't wait 'till I can walk again. Five months now I been in my damn wheelchair."

"Shouldn't be long now before you're back to normal. The medics said if you're feeling better, you should be able to start walking again."

"Okay," Jessie said. "I wanna try now."

Buzz looked rather surprised at Jessie's words, but he nodded silently. Jessie checked the clock… what? That couldn't be right.

"Buzz? Ya got me up at half eleven at night fer this?"

"I figured you'd want the suit now."

"Yeah right," Jessie muttered. She remembered that Buzz always had a habit of visiting her at every opportunity. Back when they were eight, they could sneak across the roofs to see each other. If Buzz had even the tiniest excuse, he'd sneak across no matter the time.

"Okay," Jessie said. "I'm gettin' up now."

She threw back the covers, more concerned with walking again than what sort of clothes Buzz saw her in.

Needless to say, Buzz's look of surprise when she had said she'd wanted to walk again straight away was nothing to the expression on his face now. It looked like his brains were melting and about to start dripping out his nose.

"Okay Buzz," Jessie said, shaking his shoulder. This successfully snapped him out of it and he offered a hand to help her up.

"No Buzz, I wanna stand up!"

"Okay," Buzz said. He took a couple of steps back to give Jessie some room and she swung her legs off the mattress, so that her feet hit the floor.

Finally!

Jessie pushed herself up and carefully found her balance. Her legs were a bit weak and shaky, but otherwise, she was fine after a moment or two.

"Okay," Buzz said. "Now try and walk towards me."

Maybe he'd put a bit too much faith in her. Either way, when Buzz saw Jessie stumble, he knew he shouldn't have told her to try and walk over to him. He ran over to help Jessie back to her bed, carefully trying to keep his eyes away from her legs and, er… cleavage.

"Jess, I'm so sorry," he apologised. "I didn't mean to push you, I swear! I –"

Before Buzz could finish his apology, Jessie put a hand over his mouth, very effectively shutting him up. When Buzz reached up a hand to Jessie's wrist, to remove her hand from his mouth, she flung herself at him, hugging him tightly. "'s okay Buzz," she told him. "Not your fault."

* * *

_They were down at the creek. It was quite wide and came about halfway up their shins. Woody and Bo watched and laughed as Buzz, Jessie and Emily repeatedly crossed the golden stepping-stones, attempting to get across as many times as they could in a row, without falling in._

_Emily finally slipped and a huge splash soaked their shorts._

"_Thirty-nine," she told them proudly. Then she went to sit in the long, cool grass of the bank; because she was out._

_Buzz was about to cross for his sixty-seventh time, Jessie claiming it would be her eighty-fifth; and they met on the middle stone. As Buzz tried to get past Jessie without falling in, he accidentally pushed her back. Attempting to keep her balance, Jessie tried to grab onto Buzz's arm, pulling him off his stepping-stone; but Buzz managed to keep his balance and simply stepped into the water._

_Jessie wasn't quite so lucky: she slipped over and fell on her butt. The cold water rushed over her and Buzz had to help her get up._

_Oh no… was she gonna be angry? He'd probably totally screwed up._

"_Jessie, I'm so sorry," he told her sincerely. "I swear I didn't mean to push you. I –"_

_Jessie put her hand over his mouth so that he fell quiet. When he reached up to take her hand off his mouth, Jessie pulled Buzz into a tight hug, drenching him in the process, as – caught off guard – he lost his footing and fell into the creek, dragging Jessie down with him._

"_Oh no, Jessie, I'm really sorry –"_

"'_s okay Buzz. Not your fault."_

* * *

Jessie could feel herself going pale. Her head began to throb as though it was about to split open; and she was feeling weak again. Apologising quickly to Buzz, Jessie barrelled out of her room and down the halls to the prisoners' cells.

Buzz stared after Jessie, confused. He frowned. Had he done something wrong? Upset her? He couldn't understand why she'd run off like that.

Run off? Well, at least Jessie was walking again. Or, er, running.

Wait, what if she fell and hurt herself?

Buzz ran after her.

"So you finally realised I was right?" Gravitina asked groggily. She wasn't too impressed at being woken up in the middle of the night.

"Yeah," Jessie replied. "Look, can ya put another chip in my shoulder?"

"You _do_ know it's gonna hurt like hell, right?"

"I wouldn't exactly expect less."

"Fine. Loose this one, though, and you're screwed."

Gravitina reached through the bars and pressed a small chip into Jessie's shoulder. It went easily through her skin but it was agony to endure.

"Hold on," Gravitina advised.

The force of the pain drove Jessie to her knees and she clenched her fists, digging them into her thigh.

"Just a few more seconds!"

The pain of the chip in Jessie's shoulder was almost blinding. Gravitina released Jessie's shoulder and a second later, Buzz came hurtling round the corner, still in his sweats and t-shirt. Jessie sat there recovering from the pain in her shoulder, which suddenly soothed to a dull throb. When she looked at her shoulder, there was no blood, like she'd expected – just a pink mark, as though nothing had broken her skin – and yet, she'd _seen_ the chip!

"Jessie!" Buzz cried, kneeling next to her and putting an arm cautiously around her shoulders. "Are you hurt? What happened? Why did you run off like that?"

"I'm fine. Jus' wanted tah try walkin' again," she lied.

"Did Gravitina hurt you?"

"Nah. I'm fine."

Buzz lifted his hand off Jessie's left shoulder to reveal the mark from the chip. "What's that, Jessie?"

"Nothin'. I can take care of myself, Buzz."

"Sure," Buzz said quietly. He carefully helped Jessie to her feet and whispered, "Maybe we should get you back to your room." Buzz started to lead Jessie back to her room; as he did, she quickly turned around to smile in thanks at Gravitina, who gave her a wink and a thumbs-up.

"Jessie, are you _sure_ you're alright?" Buzz asked, as the door closed behind him and he sat next to Jessie as she lay down on her bed.

"Yeah Buzz, I'm sure."

"Did I do something wrong?"

Jessie laughed. "Buzz, o' course ya didn't!"

Buzz still looked worried. "Are you sure?"

Seeing only one way out of this conversation without actually telling him the truth, Jessie sat straight up and kissed Buzz on the lips. "Yeah Buzz," she whispered. "I'm sure."

* * *

**A/N:**

**See ya next time!**


	9. Cellmate

**A/N: Howdy! I don't own **_**Toy Story**_**, or **_**Buzz Lightyear of Star Command**_** *sniff*.**

**Cowgirl: Haha, yeah ^^; sorry it took so long**

**Yue and Sakura 4 ever: Thanks, me too**

**Francia: Aw, sorry I made you cry, but thanks!**

**PinkStarLover000: Thanks, sorry for the wait**

**Also, I don't know how many scientifically-minded people are reading this, but I've just noticed a HUGE mistake in chapter 3. An electron laser wouldn't have a high electrical charge, because electrons are negatively-charged. I'm planning to go back and correct all the mistakes at some point, and I'll switch it to protons so that it makes sense to me**

**More with Emily and Woody now, too**

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Cellmate**

It had been almost a year since the accident. Jessie had passed her training with notable speed and accuracy to rival Buzz. On his team, she had already completed several small-scale missions and one rather large one; and Mira had been more than pleased to tell her that with the extra help, paperwork was easier and a helluva lot less time-consuming.

But they hadn't found any leads as to what had happened to her brother, sister and Bullseye; and it had been recommended that she not go back and see Bo, for the safety of both of them.

It was late and Jessie lounged on her bed, propped up by an extra pillow and reading a book. Her belongings had been boxed up and brought to her from her apartment on Earth, and although the pictures and civvies were unpacked, she only unpacked her belongings now as she got to them, having usually been too lazy, too tired or too distracted to get around to unpacking properly. Three large boxes were stacked one-on-top-of-the-other in her built-in closet, which was on the same wall as the head of her bed; and several more were piled together at the foot of her bed. The book had come from one of these.

She glanced at the time, projected onto the ceiling by a red LED digital clock; it read 10:58. Admittedly, she'd had a long day and was very tired, so she slipped her bookmark between the pages of her book, yawned and put the extra pillow under the bed so she could lie down.

"Lights," she muttered sleepily, and the lights switched off as she settled down to sleep. She dreamed about a family who lived out on a ranch.

* * *

Buzz, on the other hand, was not sleeping well at all. He was worried about Jessie. He didn't know if she'd be alright, considering she'd lost her siblings a year ago. She was a strong, brave person, but he knew from personal experience that a person shouldn't be strong and brave all the time. He was just pleased that, with Jessie, it didn't make things worse.

He had heard once that being brave was not doing something stupidly dangerous; it was doing something even though you were scared to. That was definitely true for Jessie. She was horribly claustrophobic, and scared of the dark (but usually it wasn't too bad unless her claustrophobia kicked in) but she'd willingly gotten herself into some very tight spots - literally - on some of their missions. She was gorgeous, brave, intelligent, athletic, resourceful, witty, funny.

And the others adored her.

It just seemed to be this thing with Jessie, Buzz thought. She had a natural charm which drew animals and people to her.

But that didn't mean she might not feel alone sometimes.

* * *

The next day was the actual anniversary of the crash. Jessie didn't realise until she checked her calendar and realised she'd circled it. She felt strangely detached from it, like someone else had gone through it and she'd been given their memories. It almost scared her, how quickly she had adjusted to not having her twin, her brother or her horse around anymore.

There was a photo of them on the wall, actually. The three of them crowded around Bullseye, who seemed beyond happiness at the attention. Emily and Jessie sat up front on stacks of hay, and Bullseye's head had successfully manoeuvred its way in between their shoulders, like he was saying "Hey, I wanna be in the photo too!" and Woody stood next to him, behind Jessie. She smiled fondly at the photograph and whispered, "I'll find you guys. Don' you worry." Then she changed into her suit and got up for breakfast.

She ate with her team, who were eyeing her cautiously all through breakfast. Finally she slammed down her knife and fork and snapped, "Okay, what is it? Y'all been lookin' at me like there's something wrong!"

"We're just worried, Jess," Mira said. "You know, with what day it is and all."

Jessie sighed. "Yeah, I know. But I'm not gonna cry or stay home from a mission or anything. I mean, I miss 'em, but until we find out where they are then there's nothing we can do about it, right?"

"Exactly. I'm sure they miss you, too."

* * *

Emily had been in here so long, they'd finally decided to upgrade her to a better room. Maybe they'd gotten fed up of waiting for someone to rescue her. It was an actual room this time, clean but not very big. Big enough for two people, with a small en-suite bathroom and a window so she could see outside. She gathered that they had changed location, because there was no sunlight this time; just a view of the stars and a decent electric light.

The conditions were much better here and she'd learned to live with it. Well, maybe not _live_ exactly, but she could deal with it, more or less. She got an hour's exercise every day, just as an excuse to get her out of the room, which was good, because when they'd transferred her to their new base, she'd been so weak they'd had to carry her. She was getting her strength back now, successfully.

And she had to admit, she liked that they'd given her a TV and a bookshelf. That was a nice touch.

Emily was reading a book about a kid who witnessed a murder with _Westworld_ playing in the background when she heard a loud knock at the door and a voice commanded, "Stay back from the door."

Emily paused the film and stared at the door. It was unlocked from the outside and someone was pushed into the room. The man who'd spoken before said, "Here's your new cellmate," and left, locking the door behind him.

She was surprised to see who it was - and he was surprised to see her. She was in need of a good wash, haircut and a shave, and his clothes were all messed up, but she recognised the tall, gangly man's awkward pose anywhere.

"Howdy, Woody," she said. When he spotted her, he smiled.

"Em. It's been a while."

"Sure has, brother. More than a year. I guess the spare bed's yours, then."

Woody sat down and sighed. "It's so comfortable compared to my cell on that planet." Then he looked at her. "They just transferred me here today."

"I've been here about a month, I think," Emily said. "How'd they get you?"

"We were looking to find you," Woody said. "Me, Jessie and Bullseye. They wouldn't let me go without them. On the way back, we got hit with something. Next thing I know I'm in some dingy cell which really needs fixing up and Bullseye's in a stable opposite, all crying and lonely because Jessie's not here. That was about a year ago."

"Bullseye… what did they do with him?"

"I think they put him in a stable here, too. They transferred him across about two weeks ago."

Emily nodded. "What about Jessie?"

"Dunno," Woody shrugged. "I don't think they got her. I don't know if they wanted to."

"I hope she's okay."

"She's a tough gal. As long as she survived the blast, she'll be fine."

Emily paused a minute. Then, quietly, she asked, "Do you think she made it, Woody?"

"I'm sure she did. You're her twin, you should know."

For the first time since she'd been kidnapped, Emily smiled just a bit. Not much of one and fairly tearful, but it was still a smile. "Do you think she got help?"

"Probably. I bet she went to Star Command as soon as she could. I'll bet you anything she'll come for us."

"What if they didn't want to help her and that's why she hasn't come yet?"

"Then she's just taking her time finding a way to help. But I'm sure Star Command will get involved."

"How come?"

Woody gave Emily a look like she was an idiot, which made her laugh slightly. "You know why. It's the guy who's keeping us here."

"I've seen almost no-one here," Emily admitted. "I don't know who you're talking about."

"Come on Em, figure it out."

Emily tried to think, but she shook her head. "Sorry. I still don't know."

"Zurg," Woody said. "It's Zurg. They'll come for us because they're always fighting him."

Suddenly, Emily felt like an idiot. "How didn't I realise that before? Ugh, I'm so stupid!"

"You're not," Woody said firmly. There was a silence, in which Emily switched the movie back on. They watched it quietly for a bit. As it ended, Woody said, "Jessie missed you, you know."

Emily burst into tears.

* * *

After breakfast, Buzz stood up and said, "You guys go to your briefing. I'm going to ask Commander Nebula if he's found any leads yet."

"I'll go," Jessie offered. "I wanted to talk to him anyway."

"Sure," Buzz said. "Come on then, team. Jessie - you know where we'll be."

"Yeah, I know."

"Oh - and, uh…" he didn't finish the sentence, just shot her a half-worried, it'll-be-okay look.

"I know, Buzz. Thanks." She gave him a quick hug before hurrying off to see Nebula.

"I'm sorry, Pride," Nebula said sympathetically. "We have no new news."

"I expected as much," Jessie said, shifting her weight from foot to foot. "Actually, I wanted to make a request. It's been a year since the crash, and I -"

"Stop right there, Pride," Nebula said. "I know you want to visit your friend Bo. But I'm just wondering if they'll be expecting it."

"I can take my team with me," Jessie pressed. "I can fight good, you know I can. You're always saying I only need some more experience and I'll be better than Buzz. I'd be fine."

"I really don't think -"

"_Please_," Jessie begged.

"Look, I know you feel vulnerable right now, but -"

"Commander," Jessie said seriously. Her tone, the tone she only used if someone was in trouble with her or if she was annoyed (and if she was annoyed at you then you were _definitely_ in trouble with her), and sometimes when she needed to command respect, made him stop and look at her. "She doesn't even know if I'm alright."

Nebula sighed. "Look, Pride. I like you. You're a good Ranger and I guess I owe you some vacation time. How long do you need?"

"Not a lot. Less than a week."

"I'll give you the week anyway. Find yourself something to do in it."

* * *

"I need to stretch my legs," Woody complained. "I'm all cramped in. I'm starting to get why Jessie's so claustrophobic."

The comment about Jessie missing Emily had been forgotten, but she was still on their minds.

"I know what you mean," Emily said. "But here they let you out for exercise once a day."

"That sounds fair. I wonder why they're being so nice too us."

"I guess they want us in one piece."

"Or maybe they need us in one piece."

"Try and be positive," Emily told Woody. "Maybe they actually care about the wellbeing of their prisoners."

"They didn't for the first year," Woody grumbled.

"We've been here a long time. Maybe they didn't really think we'd be here this long. Maybe they're expecting some extra time."

"Maybe it's like when you give a dying person one last request."

"_Woodrow Pride!_ Don't think about that right now! You're always such a worrier!"

"But -"

"We'll be alright. You'll see."


End file.
